More than $1.6 million was raised in a recent Tim Hortons fundraising campaign in support of residential school survivors.
Tim Hortons’ Orange Sprinkle Donuts first went on sale on Sept. 30, which was Orange Shirt Day, and were available for a full week with 100 per cent of the retail price (excluding taxes) being donated to the Orange Shirt Society and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
In total, more than one million Orange Sprinkle Donuts were sold.
The campaign was the brainchild of Tim Hortons and its restaurant owners including Shane Gottfriedson, Joe Quewezance, and Mitch Shuter, who own a restaurant located a short distance from the site of the former Kamloops residential school where the remains of children were recently discovered.
They, along with other Indigenous Tim Hortons restaurant owners, were part of a working group that guided the launch of this fundraising campaign.Their Kamloops restaurant sold more than 2,300 orange-sprinkled donuts on the first day of the campaign, which was the most in the country.
“We can’t say thank you enough to everyone across Canada who supported this campaign – it’s such an amazing result and we are so proud,” said Gottfriedson, former Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation chief and former B.C. regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations. “I also want to thank Tim Hortons and my fellow Tims owners across Canada who stood beside us in launching this campaign and put their hearts into making it such an incredible success story.”
The Indian Residential School Survivors Society has a more than 20-year history of providing services to residential school survivors, their families, and those dealing with intergenerational traumas. One of the Society’s goals is to continually expand support to partner organizations and maximize access to culturally sensitive, emotional, mental, physical and spiritual care.
“The Indian Residential School Survivors Society would like to express our profound gratitude to Tim Hortons and all the restaurant owners across Canada for their commitment to reconciliation by taking action to initiate their Orange Sprinkle Donut campaign,” said Angela White, Executive Director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. “We are working tirelessly to support survivors of residential schools and their families through programs and services for the youth, 2SLGBTQ+, elders and families. This donation will allow us to ensure the quality of programs are enhanced in providing safe cultural spaces, and build capacity in offering additional counsellors, therapists and knowledge keepers.”
“We knew Canadians would rally with us to support the Orange Shirt Society and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society but we are truly awed and humbled by the response,” said Hope Bagozzi, Chief Marketing Officer for Tim Hortons. “Thank you to everyone who purchased an Orange Sprinkle Donut and a special thank you to Shane, Joe and Mitch, Sharon and Brian, and Landon for being so generous with your time, sharing your stories with Canada, and guiding this campaign.”
